Host an owl-themed birthday party

It's hard to believe, but my baby is going to be two years old this week. Sniff, sniff.

We had a party for him on Saturday with about 40 family members and friends showing up. I don't think my baby knew everyone was there for him -- but he had a good time.

It was my husband's idea to have the party at a local wildlife rehabilitation and nature center, where biologists bring out various animals for the kids to touch and teach everyone about them. The nature center asked what my baby's favorite animal is. I told them a giraffe. Heh! Well, they don't have any giraffes, but they do have owls, and he does know what an owl is, so I thought that was great.


Eastern screech owl

And owls are fun fun for a party theme. I started with a blue owl party decor package from the Bee & Daisy Etsy shop. The image files allowed me to make a party invitation:



And candy bar wrappers. I resized and cut out the head of the owl to paste on plain brown paper lunch bags to make the goody bags.



The goody bags also contained an owl finger puppet (I love finger puppets!) and bird seed ornaments for the party guests to hang in their trees:


This one is in the shape of a shark. There were other shapes, too -- including an owl -- which I made with cookie cutters.

I made a pull-apart cake (a cake made out of individual cupcakes) in the shape of an owl, thanks to an idea by Family Fun Magazine.



And owlets.



I made some of the owlets wheat- egg- dairy- and nut-free for my preschooler.

The Bee & Daisy Etsy shop decor stash included printables to make a banner.



Because the nature center didn't allow balloons (too easy to get tangled in the ceiling fans of the screened-in pavilion and a hazard to wildlife), I had to make something else that was fun. Tissue paper balls it was.



Everyone had a fun time!

10 time savers for busy moms

"Why are you always doing two or three things at once?" my husband asked me recently.

"Well, duh, I'm a mom," I wanted to say. But what I said was, "That's how I have to get things done."

True, isn't it? For any mom?

In addition to multitasking my way through the day (which I don't really do all the time), here are other things I do to make the most of my time or to make tasks easier.

1. Prepare the night before. I am not a morning person, as much as I would like to be. It's easier for me to get breakfast, papers, bills, etc. ready the night before I need them than to try to force my brain to work in the morning. When my son goes to school, his lunch and backpack are ready at night too.

2. Use lists. I'm a big list maker. If I can find the time to focus on things I need to do or prepare for (like my two-year-old's upcoming birthday party) and write down what I need while I'm concentrating on it, this saves me time later because all I have to do is refer to my list. And then I better not lose that list! Lists are essential for regular tasks like food shopping, too.

3. Buy more than you need at one time. If something you use all the time is on sale, scoop up more than you need! You know you'll eventually use it, and you'll save yourself another trip to the store. Of course, this can't apply to things like fresh produce, but this tip does help save time for most other household items.

4. Give your kids incentives. I like to think this isn't the same thing as bribery. But it might be. For example: "I'd be happy to buy you a toy car if you help me in the store by being a good boy." It doesn't always have to be a newly purchased item: "I'd be happy to take you swimming if you are nice to your sister this morning." Because, let's face it, kids who don't behave or get along can slow down the operations of a family.

5. Delegate. Who says you have to do it all? Give your kids and other household members tasks that are appropriate for their age. My country-raised stepmother would say, "Many hands make the burden light." And the mom happy.

6. Get into a routine. I know many people think routines are boring, but I think routines can actually help a family save time because everyone knows what to expect. When you have young children (who thrive on routine anyway), they usually won't put up a fuss when the family does what they expect them to. As many moms know, if there's ever a break in routine, you might lose time by dealing with a fussy, cranky little person.

7. Make smart use of technology. I admit I can get sucked into Twitter or Facebook, and lose track of time having fun catching up with online friends. But some technology does save time, like online and/or automatic billing, and the new Starbucks Card Mobile and Starbucks for Android, which let you pay with your phone. Fast and easy!

8. Save time at the library. This is one of my favorite time savers that I like to share with other moms. There's a great program at my local library system that allows you to reserve a book online from any library in the county library system, then keep it on hold for you at whichever library you choose. Instead of me driving to several libraries or even just rummaging the shelves at my local library, the librarians do it for me. Then all I have to do is ask for the book at the front desk, check out and leave. And it's free! Check your local library system to see if reserving books is available.

9. Combine trips. It's amazing to me how much time my family spends in the car, just driving to and from places! If you can save some shopping or pick up/drop off time for a trip that takes you nearby, that saves time and gas.

10. Factor in some down time. Time seems to go by quickly when you are busy trying to get through a to-do list. But time seems to slow down when you do -- so make the most of it.

For me, saving time and making family life easier has to do with being organized and taking a little time to think things through. It also really helps to have a supportive husband who enjoys helping out. If you can't do it all, ask for help -- from a family member, neighbor or friend. Someday when you have more time, you can return the favor.

- - - - -

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Starbucks blogging program, for a gift card worth $30. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Summer camp at home: Week 2 -- Camping

My family loves camping, and because Saturday, June 25 is the day of the Great American Backyard Campout, next week seems like the perfect week for a camping theme for our summer camp at home.

My love of camping started early. As a kid, my family camped at a state park and national lakeshore near our house. Later, my husband and I were invited to go camping with friends two months after we were married. We bought a little dome tent (in the picture) for $50 on clearance. He and I had such a good time that we ended up camping in several places throughout Florida. Most recently, we took our boys camping in the Everglades.

If you're following along on my nerdy plan to do summer camp at home with a different theme each week, here are some ideas for you and your kids. It's going to be kind of a light week for me with the activities because I also need to prepare for my little one's second birthday party. So you might come up with more ideas than I've listed.

- Build a blanket-and-chair fort every day for pretend camping in the family room. (I would have loved trying to make a teepee out of cardboard boxes, but I don't think I'll have the time. Someone should try it!)

- Lead an ABC nature walk. As you head down a trail, look for things that start with each letter of the alphabet. Take photos or notes of each item if you like.

- Make crayon rubbings of leaves by placing a sheet of paper on top of a leaf and coloring over it to make the shape of the leaf appear on the page. Older kids can make several rubbings of different leaves and find out which leaf comes from which tree.

- Color pictures of wildlife and talk about their characteristics.

- Make toilet paper tube "binoculars."

- Make rock necklaces out of the best rocks the boys can find. (My toddler is so fascinated by rocks and carries one around with him if he finds one he likes.) These pressed flower pendants are pretty, and I like these sea-bling rings too -- hey, people camp by the beach!

- Make bird seed ornaments.

- Play with our well-used explorer kit. (This one looks fun too.)

- Read camping-themed books every day, like Curious George Goes Camping, When We Go Camping, S Is For Smores or other books we can find at the library.

- Pitch a tent in our backyard for the Great American Backyard Campout!

If you don't have a tent, ask family or friends if they can loan you a tent for the night. Frankly, I'm not sure if my family will be able to sleep outside all night long because it is H-O-T! But I know the kids will have fun trying.

Where we live in southern Florida, it's best to camp December through mid-April or so because of the heat and mosquitoes. So a week of camping activities in the summer will be a fun way to tide my family over until we can camp again for real.

Summer camp at home: Week 1 -- Mr. Popper's Penguins

Today begins the first full week of summer for my preschooler. I've got big plans for our summer together, which lasts 10 weeks. If you are looking for things to do with your children over the summer and ways to keep them entertained, please check out my initial post about having summer camp at home. I will post what we are doing each week in more detail.

This week, the movie Mr. Popper's Penguins comes out. It's based on the book by Richard and Florence Atwater that was first published in 1938. The movie, starring Jim Carrey as Mr. Popper, is a modern take on the book.

My preschooler loves penguins -- actually, he owns 12 plush penguins and several books so he's officially obsessed! -- and we have been reading Mr. Popper's Penguins leading up to the movie. It's been fun.

Reading books is going to be a big part of our summer. In addition to the bedtime reading we already do, I want to read books with my boys about our theme of the week after we have lunch every day. Here are other projects I hope we can do this week:

- Make reverse-stencil penguin T-shirts (to wear to the movie!).

- Visit Jungle Island, the closest place to see penguins.

- Make a penguin mask out of a paper plate.

- Do more penguin crafts and activities based on Mr. Popper's Penguins.

- Go on a couple of playdates.

- Pretend we are penguin researchers in the southern hemisphere.

- Play at a different park every day, or swim in the pool at home.

- Go to the cinema to see Mr. Popper's Penguins!

We'll also do regular playtime activities like drawing with chalk, playing with Play-Doh, working with puzzles, etc. I am also going to work with my preschooler on writing his name every day.

I think this could be the most fun summer yet for my kids!

Ways to save money on gifts and cards

I love gift bags. I love them so much that I started saving them way back when I was engaged to my husband. I'd get these nice gifts in gorgeous bags that were too amazing to just throw away. Then the wedding came, and the holidays we spent together, and all those gift bags piled up.

I couldn't keep all those gift bags, so I started reusing the nicest ones to put gifts in that I'd give to family and friends. The gift bags that were a bit wrinkled I'd use to give back food containers (thanks, Mom, that was tasty!), loan out CDs to friends or donate small items to Goodwill, that kind of thing.

Reusing gift bags is a great way to reduce/reuse/recycle -- and it saves money! I rarely need to buy a gift bag to give a gift. See this gift bag here? I put it together for a friend's daughter's birthday using my stash, including a super nice piece of cloth-like tissue paper I had saved.

When it comes to cards, I don't reuse them -- although I know artsy people do cut off the front of cards to create something new from them. I save money on cards by making my own. Some people are expert card makers and put their whole selves into it. Seriously, I have a friend who can spend a month creating one card! I admire those people -- I'm not one of them. I buy a package of blank cards with envelopes from a craft store (around $5-6) and some nice scrapbooking stickers. Then when I need a card, I put a few stickers on the front of a blank card, stamp a message inside, and have a unique card, fast. And cheap. Sometimes for a kid's birthday, I will let my preschooler make the birthday card.

When you consider that gift bags and cards can easily be $3-5 each, well, you can see how it adds to the overall price of a gift. I say spend your money where it counts -- on the gift!

Alternatives to candy for Easter baskets

For most kids, one of the highlights of Easter is unpacking an Easter basket full of treats -- mostly, candy like jelly beans and chocolate rabbits. Because my preschooler has several food allergies and intolerances, though, he can't eat most candy. And my one-year-old definitely doesn't need a lot of junk food, anyway.

For my sons' Easter baskets this year, I shopped mainly for cute toys I know they'll love. Toys and books are good basket fillers -- they take up more room than most candy so you don't have to buy as much -- and they last longer!

I found these Easter basket goodies at Target: Hot Wheels cars inside plastic eggs, bug catchers, Thomas train Easter sets, sunglasses and books. I plan to divide the Hot Wheels eggs between the boys.



I know some girls like these things, too -- but if not, then little plush animals, Zhu Zhu pets, hair clippies and dolls are nice.

At Toys R Us/Babies R Us, I found some magnetic letters that will replace some of the ones that have gotten lost under the refrigerator (and likely sticking to the metal under side of the fridge, which is why I can't find them, ugh!).



My little guy is crazy for stickers.



And my preschooler, who between the two boys is the most obsessed with trains, will be surprised with an engineer's cap (also from Target).



Other ideas: coloring books and crayons (or my favorite, the Crayola Color Wonder markers and coloring pads), small containers of Play-Doh, jewelry, fun socks, trading cards, DVDs or even a rolled-up T-shirt.

What other non-food things have you put into a kid's Easter basket?

Bringing baby home: 10 tips for new moms

Right now, a good friend is waiting on the word to bring her baby home from the hospital. I know she is eager to have her second daughter at home and to stop going back and forth to the hospital for merely a visit!

I am blessed, lucky and proud to have been able to bring two babies into our home -- my first son, now four, and my second, now 16 months old. Following advice I had read in the Baby Whisperer book, I gave each son a tour of our home (once they were awake!). I was excited to show them the bedrooms my husband and I had set up for them!

There are other things I wanted to do for them to make them as comfortable, happy and healthy as possible. Here are some of those ideas for new moms.

1. Nesting. Before each boy was born, I had an urge to clean the house. Heck, I even dusted the blinds. Curtains were washed. Dust bunnies were evicted from under the beds. Cat fur was abolished. Baby clothes were washed and settled into drawers lined with fresh paper. Then I felt better about bringing my baby home to less dust and other junk in the air. Every mom has a different urge about what has to be cleaned. Follow those instincts!

2. Laundry. In addition to the regular load of laundry for my husband and me, each day I also washed the baby's things. If a blanket fell on the floor, it went into the hamper. (I don't know about you, but I received so many blankets as gifts that I felt, Why should I put a dirty blanket on my baby?!) I also washed a load of cloth diapers at the end of each day. That's a lot of laundry! Be ready for it with plenty of hampers and/or laundry baskets so you can sort the loads.

3. Cloth diapers. I mentioned washing cloth diapers ... it's not really a big deal. There are so many different kinds of cloth diapers to choose from. If you want to try it out, no matter which kind you use, you will have to wash them (unless you use a diaper service). What I did was to keep a large bucket with soapy water in the laundry room. As I changed diapers, they went into the bucket. This way, they could soak. Then at the end of the day, I poured the bucket into the washing machine. I used an extra rinse cycle on them. Then they were dried, and I folded and stacked them next to the changing pad for the next day.

4. Clean toys. Just like the blankets, we had been given more than enough toys for a newborn -- so I didn't bother giving either son a toy that had dropped on the floor. Hey, we have cats. Cats walk into their litter box. Then they walk across our floor. Enough said. Hard toys can be washed in warm soapy water, or wiped or sprayed with disinfectant. Soft cloth toys can usually go in the laundry. It's a good idea to clean all new toys, too, before giving them to the baby. They are new but still germy!

5. Visitors. When visitors came to see the baby for the first time, we asked them to wash their hands first. We also kept a large pump bottle of hand sanitizer in a convenient place. People got the hint! And definitely no sick people or those who lived with family members who were sick were allowed. Set your rules about what you feel comfortable with, and stick with it! If you don't want visitors for three weeks, say so and be firm about it. If you're OK with having a party at the hospital or your home afterward, then that's fine too. (But tell people if they show up, you will put them to work! Heh!)

6. Clean bottles. I breastfed both babies. But I had to go back to the hospital a few days after my first son was born, and because of tests done on me, I couldn't nurse him for four days. I remember shopping for baby bottles and a steam cleaner just for sanitizing them. Sure, boiling works, and I know lots of folks who just use the dishwasher. The steamer was fast, though, so it's good to have if your baby drinks from a bottle.

7. Clothes. As a new mom, I had underestimated how many times I would change my baby's clothes. Who knew a newborn could poop vertically?! I ended up buying more basic bodysuits and pajamas after my first son was born. I think it also helps to try out a few different kinds of clothes, like pajamas, to see which you like. The pajamas that zip? Snap? A sleep sack? The kind with the elastic at the bottom? Then you will know what works best for you for any middle-of-the-night diaper changes. Because you may end up doing it in the dark -- or in your sleep!

8. Pets. We have two cats. Many people are allergic to cats. My husband and I knew that the babies were going to get plenty of cat fur on them, just because. So in the early days, we tried to keep the cats away from them. Oh, we knew the cats would want to give each baby the all-important kitty sniff test, and that was all right. But we didn't want the cats sleeping next to the baby or playing with his toys. Or, gah! sitting in the baby seat (which did happen, and which I promptly cleaned).

9. Hands. Washing hands was very important to me when the boys were newborns. It still is now ... but especially then. Experts say you need to rub soap on your hands for 20 seconds before rinsing for maximum germ-killing effect. I washed my hands so much in the early days! Get a bottle of nice hand lotion ready!

10. Maintenance. After the baby comes home, it's a good idea to stay on top of cleaning in the rooms he sleeps and plays in the most. I changed the crib sheets frequently, and the changing pad cover and Boppy pillow cover too. Dusting and vacuuming help get rid of dust, of course, and once you have a "system," it won't take a lot of time.

I think keeping a newborn comfortable and happy starts with tender loving care and a clean, safe environment. Follow your maternal instincts, keep things clean for your baby, and welcome a newborn into her new world.

- - - - -

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Lysol® Wee Wisdom blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

10 tips for planning a unique baby shower

I just found out (like two days ago!) that my dear friend is going to have a baby! It will be her second child. The first time, I had a baby shower for her and I think it's safe to say we all had a blast! (And no one had to sniff diapers to identify strange smells!) I don't know if my friend will want me to have another shower for her (or at least a welcome-baby party), but if I do, I will keep these things in mind:

1. Baby showers are about the mom. Yes, baby showers celebrate the new life coming into the world -- but at this point, it's definitely still about Mama. Make sure the guest of honor is comfortable, both physically and emotionally. Have a shower theme and setting that she is OK with. It might be fun to have a baby shower in that old train depot to be unique, but it might be smelly too -- and smells can affect pregnant women.

2. Because baby showers are about the mom, take some cues from her interests for a fun theme. A teacher mom might like a book shower, or you might use an apple theme. One baby shower I went to had an Alice in Wonderland theme because the mom and her sister (who gave the shower) loved watching that movie as children. Her sister made her wear a pinafore, and a friend made a spectacular lopsided-on-purpose colorful mad hatter cake!

3. After you pick a good time for the mom and a theme, move on to great invitations! Tiny Prints has several fun designs for baby shower invitations, and the quality is great. Moms-to-be (and guests too) will enjoy keeping these invitations as a sweet memento.

4. Let guests be creative. See those onesies in the picture up there? When I had a shower for my friend, each guest was invited to use fabric paint to decorate a bodysuit for the baby. There were three different sizes, so the baby would have something to wear for a while -- and my friend would be reminded of all the friends she had to fall back on when she dressed her baby! It was great to see all the different designs that people came up with.

5. Serve easy food. Magazine articles have loads of great ideas for cute little fancy finger foods. If you don't mind spending hours in the kitchen, go for it! If you're hosting a shower, though, keep it simple with the food. Chances are people would rather eat something familiar to them rather than wonder what is in that strange-looking roll thingy.

6. Pour fun non-alcoholic drinks! If you have martini and margarita glasses, why not serve maternitinis and maternaritas?! Create your own concoctions or check out the book Margarita Mama: Mocktails for Moms-to-Be.

7. Decide on games vs. no games. Some people feel it's not a baby shower without games. Other people prefer not to have any games, which can still be a lot of fun. Find out what the mom wants. Whatever you do, don't play any games that make fun of the mom or make her feel uncomfortable about her size.

8. Share your thoughts with the mom. You can have each guest bring them with her on a card, write them in a journal to give to the mom-to-be later, share a mom tip out loud in a circle or even record it on video!

9. Take lots of pictures -- but don't stop there! After the shower, use services like Smilebox or Scrapblog to creatively share the pictures with the guests and also those who couldn't be there.

10. Use fun thank-you notes afterward. You can help the mom-to-be with her thank-you notes by making sure she has an accurate list of which guest gave her which gift, and also by giving her nice notes as a gift. Tiny Prints also makes great thank-you notes that you can personalize, and your pregnant friend will love this extra gift!

- - - -

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Tiny
Prints blogging program, making me eligible to get a Tiny Prints gift
code worth $50, plus 25 FREE Tiny Prints greeting cards -- a total gift
value of $149.75! For more information on how you can participate, click here.